On 12/23/10 3:27 AM, Weinheimer Jim wrote:
> The word "should" here holds the entire point of whether to use ONIX records for library cataloging. There are certain levels of standards that must be adhered to if the entire system is not to dissolve into complete chaos. These standards must be linked to a certain level of assurance that the records actually *do* conform to those standards, i.e. while you can never get 100% compliance in anything, what is acceptable? 98%? 90%? 75%? 50%? If there is no assurance (within tolerable limits) that a specific record will conform to the standards, there are essentially two options:
> 1) to give up, accept everything, and admit that there are no standards; or
> 2) recheck each and every record received to ensure the standards are met within your own catalog
Isn't this, to some extent, a false either-or? In the card era, a "Do it
once, and do it right" mentality made perfect sense, since any change
meant pulling cards and revving up the electric eraser, and what today
is a simple global find-and-replace could mean months of labor.
Nowadays, a more iterative approach to cataloging is possible, so
perhaps the priority should be building better systems for collaborative
editing and enhancement of bibliographic metadata, rather than trying to
enforce standards.
> So, if taking ONIX records really were a matter only of *adding* information, i.e. essentially the headings, that would be one thing, but this assumes quite a bit: that the rest of the record conforms to your standards (AACR2, ISBD). From what I have read from others who have more experience working with these records, this is not at all the case and therefore, taking ONIX records will be just having more lousy copy cataloging available. As a result, the cataloger has to recheck and/or redo the entire record anyway, saving very little, nothing, or even incurring the additional labor of fixing everything. This or, the only other choice is to hold your nose, not do anything and accept whatever you find.
Well, there we are. In my position, I do a certain amount of cataloging,
and I vastly prefer editing any kind of existing text to transcribing.
But then again, I'm a lousy typist.
--
Cory Rockliff
Technical Services Librarian
Bard Graduate Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Material Culture
18 West 86th Street
New York, NY 10024
T: (212) 501-3037
rockliff_at_bgc.bard.edu
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In the Main Gallery:
January 26, 2011– April 17, 2011
Cloisonné: Chinese Enamels from the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties
Organized in collaboration with the Musée des arts Décoratifs, Paris.
In the Focus Gallery:
January 26, 2011– April 17, 2011
Objects of Exchange: Social and Material Transformation on the Late-Nineteenth-Century Northwest Coast
Organized in collaboration with the American Museum of Natural History
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Received on Thu Dec 23 2010 - 12:37:00 EST